Steven cursed under his breath as he thought about the words he had said to Marie. She didn't deserve those words even though her repulsion at sharing a bed with him had stung. Why had it stung so much?Taking deep breaths to ease the tightening in his chest, Steven dragged the bags that belonged to him and Marie to the center of the room. When he had arrived at her house to pick her up this morning, his eyes had widened in surprise at how beautiful she looked in the sundress she was wearing. Her perfect black hair had fallen to her shoulders and for someone who had been terribly sick two days ago, she had looked and smelled like heaven. Shaking his head to dispel the unwanted thoughts, Steven took his laptop out of his bag. Even with his OOO Email, he was sure that countless Emails had been pouring in since he last checked, such was the life of a CEO of an Advertising agency, especially one as big as Alden Kings Inc.Glancing at his watch, he saw that the time was almost 2PM. Picki
“What is it?” A worried Marie asked, the concern ringing in her voice as she sat up in bed.“We’ve been invited to Karaoke.” Steven replied, his tone deadpan.That was the reason the man was looking like he had swallowed a snake? Because he had to sing in front of people? Not that she had ever heard him since once in the ten years they had known each other. Maybe he was terrified that he wouldn't be able to carry a tune.“Steven, if it's just Karaoke, why do you look like someone's died?“Whose idea is it to make us do all these activities? How exactly is this supposed to trigger or ‘Zing’?” He asked.Marie climbed down from the bed, shaking her head side to side while she came to stand beside him. “Ooh great, we’re number two. Low chance of someone stealing our song.”“Marie, we aren't doing this.”Placing her hands on her hips, Marie turned to glare at him.“Steven, weren’t you giving me a lecture this morning about putting in our best? Are you going to let a little singing stop y
Steven had no idea what Marie was planning as he followed her onto the stage. Grabbing a chair as she went along, she climbed on the stage and motioned for him to sit on it. Confused but trying not to show it, Steven sat on the chair and clutched his mic in his hand. Marie stood in front of him, blocking his view of the rest of the room. Covering his mic with her hand so she couldn't be heard, she leaned down and whispered into his ears,“We’re going to give them a show. Just trust me. Now smile at me like I'm the most beautiful woman in this room.” Steven couldn't see the faces of anyone else but was sure this raven-haired beauty with sparkling green eyes was indeed the most beautiful woman in this room to him.“I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid…” She began singing in a voice so sonorous that Steven's lips parted in surprise.Was this why she had been so excited about Karaoke? The girl could sing! As she sang, she ran her hand over his shoulder, neck and bent o
Marie winced at the pain exploding in her head as her eyes fluttered open. Rubbing her arms, she sat up and looked around her for the annoying device that had forced her to wake up.She could hear the shower running so she assumed he was in there. The thought of being so close to Steven was doing things to her heart. A glance to her left revealed the sofa where Steven King had most likely slept, covered with a blanket and pillows. She felt a tad guilty about having this giant bed to herself while he struggled to fit his long frame into the sofa. But she wasn't ready for all the complications that would arise from them sharing the same bed. Even if she couldn't stop her heart from pining after the man, she could stop herself from doing things she would regret later. The shrill sound of the telephone startled her again. Ugh. Could whoever was calling not have waited till afternoon?Lifting the receiver to her ear, she answered,“Hello, Marie speaking.” The silence on the other end set
If Steven wasn't so angry at Marie, he would have teased her mercilessly at the way she had looked at his bare chest a few minutes ago. He had no idea why his pulse had quickened at the look of awe on her face. But all that was before she opened her mouth and suddenly had opinions about his life. Where did she get off telling me what to do and think about his father? Maybe his father wasn't always available but he was at least in his life, which was more than he could say for the parents that had abandoned her.“You stay out of my personal life, Marie. And I mean it!”“Of course you do. I apologize.” She muttered.“You may want to change that dress and check what else needs to be changed.” He said, as he turned and stormed out of the suite. He had noticed the bright red stain from yesterday and realized that she was on her period after he had fallen on her yesterday. The falling had been unintentional. After she had said what she did about his hair, he had found himself kissing her ag
Why did he have such long legs? The more Marie ran after Steven, whose mocking laughter reverberated through the hallway, the longer his strides seemed to be getting.Stopping to catch her breath, Marie called out,“Wait, Steven. Slow down please, what did I say?”But Steven wasn't slowing down, instead he kept running through the hallway that led to the stairs. Did he have to chase him down the flight of stairs to get the answer?Furious that she had let herself get so drunk last night, she started to run after him again. It wasn't until they reached the bottom of the stairs, and she found herself standing in a room full of people sitting on yoga mats that she realized what he had done. He had led her to the head massage class. With a wicked gleam in his eye, Steven walked back to her and planted his arm firmly around her waist, leading her to the center of the class where the astonished instructor waited.“We are so sorry. Time got away from yours, you know.” He said, casting a k
Without answering her question, Steven King tossed her a grin that had Marie turning red. Had she always blushed this easily?He had only been awake for about eight minutes but was seeing an opportunity to complete the wicked revenge plan he had against her.“Oh, I wouldn't worry Marie, I know you think I have the most beautiful hair. You already told me yesterday.” He said, laughing at the alarmed look on her face. He knew that he had to get up from her lap now but if he was being honest he’d prefer not to.What was happening to him? And why did he want it to continue? “That's not fair, Steven! I gave up my turn for you.” She said, playfully swatting his arm.“I mean, I did you a good deed because you know how you’ve always wanted to touch my hair? I let you do it for hours. What could be more gentlemanly?”Laughing at the way Marie rolled her eyes, Steven lifted his head from her lap and sat up to look at her. Her lovely green eyes sparkled in the darkness, as the cool evening bre
Although his face was veiled in the darkness, Marie could see various emotions flutter on Steven King’s face before he schooled his features into his trademarked inscrutable expression. Tonight, however, she was seeing it for what it was; a smokescreen to hide his feelings, and she was not going to budge until she got an answer out of him.“Marie, I think you know the answer to that.” He responded in a cool voice before pulling himself up to tower above her.“Humor me, Steven King.” She said, unwilling to back down now.“No, Marie. I do not have feelings for you. What's that got to do with anything? You think just because we’ve shared a few kisses, I’m suddenly going to develop feelings for you?”Even though Marie had expected those words, their impact landed on her hopeful heart like a heavy blow. If he didn't have feelings for her, why had she caught him looking at her the way he had so many times tonight?How many times was her foolish heart going to get hurt before it stopped pan
“What?” Steven asked in a voice so phony that everyone turned to stare at him.“Is that blood, uncle Steve? It is. There's blood on your shirt.”“Shhhhh, buddy. Don't make a big deal about it. I cut myself.”“You did? Cool! Let me see.” Rick exclaimed, as though he was being given front row tickets to a fun show.“Richard! Get back to class!”“But granny…”“Now!” Amelia boomed as a disgruntled Rick turned in his heel and headed towards the stairs, waving to Steven as he went.“You may want to get that cleaned up before leaving.” Alden said to him as he wheeled himself into his room.“Hand it to me.” Amelia said.“Oh? I didn't actually cut myself.”“I know. I’m not stupid. Alden keeps sneaking off in his wheelchair and I've seen some funny looking characters hanging around. I don't want to know what all this is about but I hope you're both not being stupid. And he's finally getting the exercise ”“Ah.” Steven replied as he took off his shirt and handed it to Amelia. He walked with Stev
Maybe it was the fact that the guy was a psychopath who had put his wife in a coma or the fact that he had such a punchable face but Steven didn't stop until Smith stopped laughing and started to cough.“Oh, I could go on for hours. I'm only just getting started.”“Kill me, please. I’d love to see how you get the answers you want.” Smith saidSteven snarled as he shook his knuckles.“Oh, make no mistake, Smith. You are going to die. You're going to pay for what you did to Cadence. I’ll make sure about that even if it's the last thing I do.”“I keep telling your stupid old man. I didn't kill Cadence Steele.”“The same way you didn't run my wife over?”“Exactly. I mean I know about it, make no mistake. But I neither authorized nor did it.”“You know what Smith, you're full of crap and I'm tired of doing this with you, so start talking. There's no use stalling too because you're not getting out of this till I'm satisfied.”“Look, I know you think I'm the one you’re looking for but I'm no
“What do you mean?”“I mean I've never seen you so affected by anything, Alden. Not even when your own son got into an accident.”Alden’s eyes hardened as he grunted.“That wasn't an accident. It was a stupid decision made by someone who should have known better.”Steven fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Alden would say that about his father. Alden had never cut him any slack.“Right, but you're deflecting the question. Why do you act like she means so much to you? What's this about?”“The only person that can give you the answers you want us is your wife, Steven.”What did that mean? Was there something about Alden and Marie he didn't know?“I don't understand what you mean, Alden.”“Are you ready to leave now?” Alden asked, pushing his chair backwards as he averted his eyes from Steven. Steven sighed and walked ahead of his grandfather. It was funny that Alden would rather die than let Steven touch his wheelchair while he allowed Amelia to help him all the time. He also kn
“Where are you?”“Hello to you too, Alden.” Steven said as he honked at the driver in front of him. Did people drive with their brains turned off these days?“I'm at your house and Dr. Terence tells me you’re not here.” The accusation in his tone spoke volumes but Steven chose to ignore it.“If you’d let me know you were coming over, perhaps I may have been ready to receive you.” Steven answered in a cool tone.“When you asked for this leave, you did say it was so you could remain at your wife's side, not gallivant around town.”“What do you want, Alden?”“No, listen to me young man. You're the one who’ll get down here fast if you want to hear what I have to say.” He answered before hanging up the phone. Steven exhaled as he massaged his temple. The last thing he wanted was Alden sticking his nose into how he was caring for Marie. Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the house and headed to the room where Marie was. Alden was in conversation with Dr. Terrence and didn't notice at firs
Dr. Terrence met him outside Marie's room and was about to say something but Steven held up his hand to forestall any comment.“I need everyone to leave for a few moments.”“Okay, Mr.King but if I may…”“Now, please.” Steven repeated as frazzled nurses began filing out of the room. He wasn't sure if he could stomach any more bad news so whatever Dr. Terrence had to say would have to wait.Dr. Terrence nodded and exited the room. Steven looked down at Marie and smiled at her. Even in a coma, her beauty took his breath away.He let out a long sigh and sat beside her bed before taking her hand in his.“You know, for the past few weeks, Marie. I’ve been mad at myself. Thinking about where I went wrong and how I could have failed you so much.”He squeezed her hand and checked to see if there was any reaction on her face. Her eyes remained blank and unfocused as they had been.“I’ve been mad at myself for letting you go through so much pain. For the fact that you're stuck somewhere between
Steven's mind whirled with thoughts as he heard the sound of Zed Norton's car backing out of his driveway.He ran a hand through his hair as he thought about what had transpired between Sandra and him. How on earth was he going to explain this to Marie when she came out of the coma? He could just imagine the look on his face.“You know when you were stuck in a coma fighting for your life? Yeah well, I slept with your best friend. And I don't even remember doing it.”He let out another curse and Sarah tossed him a concerned glance. He let out a sigh and plunked into the chair.“Any special orders for lunch, Sir? The chef wants to know…” She askedThe thought of having any food right now made him want to puke. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was Cadence lying in a pool of her own blood.“I'm not hungry, Sarah. I’ll head out and probably eat something.”“Okay, Sir. Do I make any provisions for Ms.Rakes?”“No, Ms. Rakes wouldn't be returning anymore.” Steven replied as she
“What are you doing?” Steven whispered as he jerked away from Sandra. His head was reeling from pain. Had she really kissed him?“Sorry. I don't know what happened…You looked so sad and I wasn't thinking.” She said as she abruptly got on her feet and cleared her plate. She grabbed the glass and was about to take the bottle of wine with her when Steven dragged it from her.“You can't drink the whole bottle, Steven.” She said in a quiet voice.“Get out.” He said, in a voice harsher than he intended. She glared at him for some seconds before wilting and walking out of the room.He took a swig of the bottle and sighed. Did she deserve such hostility from him for a mistake? She had only been trying to help him after all. It seemed all he was capable of these days was messing up on a grand scale. His actions kept hurting the people he called friends and family even when he didn't intend for them too. Tomorrow, he'd apologize for being bitchy to her. For now, he had only one thing on his min
“Thank you for calling me. I’ll drive him home. The last couple of weeks have been very hard with his wife being in a coma, you know.”Steven could hear Sandra talking to someone. He tried to remember calling her. Had he done that himself or had Tony called her? What time was it? She was looking at him now with something akin to disappointment on her face. Well, he didn't bloody care.“Come on, let's get you home.” She said, as she tried to help him to his feet. Steven chuckled as the both fell back on the leather seat. What was she thinking? That her tiny body could support his weight?“Is something funny, Steven King? You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re drunk. No one's been able to reach you all afternoon. James and Joanna left after breakfast and have been trying to get across to you. Your cell was switched off. And then I get a call that you're wasted in a bar!”“Arghhh. Stop talking in my face.” He mumbled. Her voice was beginning to give him a headache. He wasn't that drun
After Steven got off the call with the 911 operator, he thought about what to do next. He couldn't go home to Marie in this state, knowing that her suffering was caused by him. Nor was he in the mood to face either James or Joanna. He couldn't go to Alden's as that meant endless lectures he wasn't ready for. He knew the only thing likely to get him through the next couple of hours. He turned off his cell phone and drove off. Thirty minutes later, he parked outside Ziggler’s. The tiny, nondescript bar was exactly as he remembered it. He hesitated for a minute before heading in. He had promised James that he wasn't ever coming back here and for over ten years he had kept that promise. But there was no turning back now. A woman was dead because of him, another was in a coma fighting for her life. He needed this, if only for a few minutes. He opened the door, alighted and walked in before he could lose courage. Inside the tiny bar was exactly as he remembered it. How long since he had sat