Danny “Go make yourself an awesome night, please,” Amber looks at me pleadingly, and I lower my gaze to see the many hundred-dollar bills in my hand. My brain cells are already doing some kind of dance to celebrate this, making me miss what she says next, but as I hear Elia respond with a grunt, I know that it wasn’t directed toward me anyway. Just as I’m about to turn towards her again, telling her that I want to watch the game with Arawn, she closes the door in my face, making me jerk back. “Aw, man,” I groan, pushing the crumbled bills into the pocket of my jacket. Elia sighs, laying his hand over my shoulder. “What did you want to do?” “Actually, I wanted to watch the game with Arawn tonight,” I respond, as he steers me to the elevator. Two armed men remain standing at the entrance while we ride down with the third man who was positioned in the apartment to protect Amber. “Sometimes plans get interrupted, but a man always has to be happy when the other gets to change his p
Arawn “And the house in the Hamptons?” I ask while taking a pull from my cigarette. Roger grunts, declining that they got to it. “Michelangelo didn’t find it. He said that he would look into it once again, but he hasn’t called back yet.” I hum, looking back into the bedroom where Nerthus is sleeping peacefully. “But we got the family mansion in Connecticut, and the offices as well as the fancy business tower in the city, Boss. The boys did an awesome job. What should we do next?” he asks, and I let escape the smoke from my mouth. “Go home. And bring the boy home. I will talk to Michelangelo and let you know as soon as possible about what we will do next,” I instruct him. “Yes, Boss,” he says, and I end the call. After finishing my cigarette in peace, I walk back into the penthouse. I would want nothing more than to join Nerthus in bed, wrapping my arm around her to pull her close and breathe in her alluring perfume. But unfortunately, there are still things that have to be ta
Laurent “I don’t know what to tell you, Sir.” “That you are going to fucking solve this, that’s what you want to tell me,” I shout, sensing the bank clerk shrinking on the other side of the line. It’s been hours since I have been talking to assistants over employees over cashiers, but what makes my blood boil is that they never connect me with my personal banker, who is supposed to manage my entire portfolio. “Seeing the pending investigations, I’m afraid that I am not allowed to unfreeze any of your assets,” she says in a shy tone which angers me even more. “I don’t know why I’m talking to you anyway. Can one of you useless people finally connect me with the portfolio manager who is in charge of my accounts?” I hear her scroll through a bunch of papers before typing furiously into her keyboard. “I’m sorry, sir. But Mr. Miller is not available at the moment.” “This is bullshit,” I bark out, cutting the call. Pushing out a deep sigh, I hold my hand on my eyes. The limousine sha
Nerthus I gasp, turning towards Arawn as Goldman takes up on my invitation and walks towards us. “Can we ask him if Danny can keep the dog?” “No,” he chuckles, taking a sip of his drink. “And we are not keeping the dog.” I pout as I want to keep the dog as well. “But we would be saving him. Goldman wouldn’t have the funds to keep him anyway.” Arawn cracks up as Goldman reaches us and holds out his hand to greet him politely. “Hey, Goldman, so nice to see you again.” I smile, keeping my hands around my glass of champagne as I watch the men greeting each other. “Likewise,” he mumbles in response and pulls at his jacket but doesn’t proceed in introducing his company to us, so I guess she is bought company. He is probably regretting paying for her as he could use the money. Poor girl. “Well,” I say with a smile, putting my hand on Arawn’s arm. “We just had the most fantastic time in Sicily. Have you ever been in Italy, Laurent? It’s magical.” He distorts his face into a mask of
Arawn - A few days before I step up the last stairs to reach an impressive garden. Even if it is full of bushes, trees, and flowers, making it look as if the plants were growing rampant, I can recognize that it is taken good care of. I walk towards an old man, who is about to trim a bush of roses with a set of garden shears. “Apologies for this informal reception, but the sun is out rarely today, and I can’t risk them shrinking just because they think that I stopped caring for them,” he explains with a rough voice, taking his time to finish before turning to me and slipping off his gardening glove. I take my hand out of my pocket to shake his hand. “No worries, I’m glad that you found time for me on such short notice, Mr. Goldberg.” “Your friend surely knows how to be convincing. Why don’t we take a seat?” he chuckles, pointing towards a table and chairs sitting under a small pavilion. He lets himself slump into the chair with a groan as we sit down and as if on cue, a maid app
Nerthus “Yes, beautiful,” Arawn announces proudly, making joy explode in my chest. “We are officially back.” It’s actually insane when I think about where we are standing now, and more importantly, how we are standing. He looks so incredibly cute holding that little dog. I know that he said he hated him and couldn’t wait for us to get rid of him. But the puppy just followed him everywhere in the apartment as soon as Danny was out. And before you could notice it, they were doing everything together. I should be jealous of that ankle-biter. Goldie barks happily as he wiggles with his tail. “This is amazing!” I say, sighing. “Where are we going to celebrate?” Arawn grins, and I already feel that something insane is going through his dirty mind. “I thought about ordering a takeout and watching a good movie. Isn’t Danny out with some of his friends tonight?” “Sounds good,” I shrug my shoulders, flashing him a big smile. “Let’s go.” I’m already turning around, walking to the entr
NerthusI run down the stairs hastily, bursting into Danny’s bedroom.He lowers the cuffs off his ears annoyed, groaning, “Amber! You have to stop bursting in like this! What if I was chatting with a girl?”“Oh, baby, I’m sorry. But don’t let them get you to take your clothes off in front of a camera! You don’t have to do things you are not ready for. You can take it slow. And scammers are everywhere!” I say as I walk to him and he scoffs, letting his arms slump.“Why do you believe that girls are just interested in me because they want to scam me?”Bending down, I grab his chin. “Oh, no! I didn’t say that! I’m sure you are a popular
Danny The door opens and closes with a bang, causing Goldie to lift his head in his crib. “Oh, I guess Arawn is home.” I gather all my books and notes to stuff them into my backpack quickly before I run downstairs. Arawn has halted in the entrance hall and is still buried in his phone as I reach him. He lifts his head to nod at me with a smile. “Hey, Danny.” “Hey, Arawn. Amber said she would be home late tonight. Are we watching the game on the big screen?” I ask excitedly as Goldie barks and jumps around his feet. He hums, agreeing with me absentmindedly while he still checks his messages. “Did you look for a dog school like she asked you to?” “No,” I groan, swinging my arms. “I don’t want to go to one. And I’m sure that Goldie doesn’t need it anyway.” Sighing, he closes his eyes shortly, before he mumbles. “The damn dog needs a better name.” “I can train him too.” “You can’t, Deiniol,” he growls. And how I fucking hate it when he uses my full name. It always means bad new
Thank you so much, my lovelies for reading, your amazing support and for your patience as I had to take several breaks to finish this one. I hope you loved Nerthus' and Arawn's love story and will be following me for the sequel. XoXo, Shelagh
Lenore Her high-pitched giggles sound like razor blades in my ears as my gaze is fixed on the huge diamond sparkling on her finger. “Well, you will surely understand, right?” Jason asks with a stupid grin as he shoves the hand of his new fiancée under my nose. “We weren’t compatible anyway.” I force up a smile, caressing my arms as I hug myself against the cold. “Of course, you are so cute together.” “Thank you so much,” Gina squeals in her fake happy voice, putting her hand on her chest. “It was so important for me that you would understand.” This scene is so telling. Also, because I’m standing in the open, freezing to death in my cute dress while the snowflakes fall on me, sticking to my hair and melting into my already freezing skin.My best friend and my ex-boyfriend, on the other hand, are standing beneath the roof of the entrance to his house, smiling at me like it’s about to be Christmas.And luckily it is. I gave the best days of my life to this man, my high-school love,
Danny “Is this thing on?” I clear my throat as I tap on the microphone, smiling uncomfortably. “Hey everyone.” The guests are staring up at me and I squirm on my feet as I push out a deep breath. I have never spoken in front of so many people and my throat feels raspy. “As my brother asked me to be his best man, I felt honored, but the first thing I asked him was, ‘Don’t you have any friends?’” A low chuckle goes through the crowd, and I wet my lips with my tongue. “Of course, I know that he has a lot of friends, but he wanted me as his brother to do it. And thank God, Bernie was not too offended about it to help me with the planning of the bachelor party.” “Hear, hear!” Bernard lifts his glass, cheering loudly, getting other guests to join him. I play with my notes, my nervousness increasing as I feel my throat close. “Well, the bachelor party was great. Sorry, Amber, but there were a lot of beautiful girls.” Amber laughs, the diamond pins holding up her hair sparkling in th
Arawn“This is not fair! You can’t treat me like this.” Amanda screams at the top of her lungs, making me close my eyes exhausted.“Well, why don’t you go ahead and sue me?”Her theatrical gasp must cost her so much air that I’m surprised she doesn’t faint.“I hate you!” She screams even louder. “I never want to see you ever again!”So dramatic.It has been quite a while and I still struggle to adjust to this ‘love topic’.All because of that woman.Fifteen years have passed since I asked Nerthus to be my wife, and claimed she just said yes because of her job.I might have her punished for this.But she made me pay severely anyway.“Well, what a shame that you are stuck with me, isn’t it, Amanda?”“I hate you! I hate you!”Groaning, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You keep repeating yourself. We already figured it out that far, didn’t we, my love?”The shrill scream that she is used to producing during her tantrums risks bursting my eardrums.Well, my fucking fault for thinking I coul
NerthusMy birthday was more than memorable. Especially because after getting proposed to by the love of my life, I got to party my entry into a new life-year with my friends. I drank way too much, fearing I would have spoiled my chance of a tasty breakfast. “I’m out!” I hear Danny shout before the door slams close. Groaning, I fight myself out of bed, desperately needing a cup of coffee. As I reach the kitchen, a strange sensation rises in me. I notice that there is no staff around whatsoever. Not even the usual bodyguard is scurrying around my feet and I guess that Danny left with Goldie to go to the dog school, making the house awfully silent. I tie my morning gown tighter around my waist, concentrating on refilling the water tank of my coffee machine. My heart drops as I hear footsteps nearing, but I don’t turn around. Pressing the button to get the coffee to start flowing, I ignore my body shivering in anticipation as Arawn puts his hands on the counter, caging me in. “I
Nerthus - Six months later I take a sip of my coffee, hugging my denim jacket closer as I watch the children run around the statue of Alice in Wonderland. Thinking about how my life has changed in the last year, I nearly can’t believe my luck and I push down the urge to ask myself how I deserved this kind of life. So many things have happened in these six months and it is just crazy how I’m just living my days with a partner in crime, an adopted boy and a stolen dog. As they had liquidated my uncle’s and aunt’s assets, and as they couldn’t get hold of my cousin, I got nominated as their heir. First, I didn’t want to have nothing to do with it, but with Arawn’s and Danny’s support, I got to the house where I lived before I came to New York and we searched for something that I would want to keep before he arranged for the clean-up and the sale of the house. Naturally, I didn’t want to keep anything. But as we searched the house, Danny found a hidden safe where there were various docu
Nerthus It takes my lungs a few seconds to fill with enough air to push out a horrified scream. But it actually feels like it takes an eternity. Lizzy looks at us with a blank look before she sinks to the floor, collapsing in her own pool of blood. Arawn steps towards her with his gun still pointed and picks her gun up. “Are you alright?” he asks in our direction as he pushes the gun into the belt in the back of his pants. Danny nods, exhaling a deep breath, and I loop my arm around his, hugging him closer. “Let’s sit down. Shall we?” He slumps to the ground nearly immediately, tearing me with him. Nodding once again, he lets his shoulders slump and I turn my head to watch Arawn crouch down before me. Cupping my chin gently, he turns my head to inspect my face. “The ambulance is already on its way. I called Detective Ramirez. Are you feeling well enough to wait for them? Or shall I drive you to the ER?” “I’m fine,” I say, my voice nearly failing me as sobs rise in my throat.
Nerthus The first thing I feel as I wake up is the cold surface I’m lying on. Turning my head to the side, I wait for my sight to focus while I notice that I can’t move. I seem to be constricted by ropes that are tying me to the table and I suddenly feel like I can’t breathe. My clothes are missing, my body shaking as I’m only dressed in my lingerie and I dread the moment when we will find out why we are in this shitty situation. My panic is crushing my throat, my breathing getting heavy as I try to pull at the ropes constricting me on the shiny surface. Checking the room, I see Danny lying next to me. He is bound to a table as well but seems to be still knocked out, and for a moment, I’m glad as I couldn’t take his desperation which would be adding to my panic. The gas must have been inducted into the room on purpose to knock us out and I fight hard not to faint at the thought. I groan, turning my head to the other side as I hope it will reduce the pulsating pain in my skull.
Nerthus “Get him off me!” I scream pushing the dead body from me but failing miserably. Danny scurries around him a few times before he decides on what to do and how to get hold of the body the best way. With a groan, he pushes him off me, making me take a deep breath. “Oh, my God.” He remains standing, staring at the dead man with a void look while I drag myself over the ground to get to the gun he had kicked out of my hand. “Are you alright?” I ask as I sit up with a pained groan, and Danny nods. Laying the gun into my lap, I massage my hand as I take another deep breath. “I think he might broke my hand too.” Sighing, I look up while I let my shoulders slump. I watch Danny while my desperation still streams through me, and I can’t seem to be able to push it down. I know exactly that there is more where he came from. Danny has his gaze still directed to the dead man, his look is flowing into the void, and I gulp as I think about how I must get him out of this dark place as s