Coraline's POVI couldn't contain my excitement, I turned to Elijah and dove into his open arms, I hugged him tight then clutched his smooth face with my palms, plastering a kiss on his lips. "Thank you, thank you so much," I whispered against his lips then broke the kiss. Elijah smiled and brushed my hair back."It's no problem. I just stole the idea from that guy but I wanted you to have the experience of meeting your idol. Come on," He slipped his fingers into mine, " I paid for the VIP experience." Elijah led me to where one of the staff was waiting at the front of the queue. Elijah showed her our tickets and she led us directly to Maisie Jordans, I was practically shaking in my boots."Ms Jordans, these are our VIP guests." The staff gestured to us, Maisie lifted her head and peered at us through her round glasses. She locked eyes with me and gave me a wide smile."Hello, it's nice to meet you." She held out her hand, I quickly let go of Elijah's hand and shook hands with her.
Coraline's POVThe second note arrived a week later, on a Tuesday evening after the cafe had closed for the evening, I found it on my car, just like the last time. This time the note wasn't as threatening or angry as the last one, it was more flirty, ' YOU WORE PINK TODAY, THAT'S MY FAVOURITE COLOR OF YOU." I shuddered and pulled my jacket closer to cover my top, I searched around to see if there was anyone around but there wasn't. I didn't know what to make of the note so I squeezed it and tossed it away in the bin. It was probably a prank by Mei or Louise, I would ask them about it the next day.I picked Becca up from school and drove straight home, Elijah was going to be late today so I heated up food for the both of us. We ate and I took care of the dishes, I tried to wait up for Elijah but I fell asleep on the couch. The next time I opened my eyes, I was being carried up the stairs, my eyes observed Elijah's face, he hadn't noticed that I was awake. I could see the slight bump i
Coraline's POVThe charity event had gone perfectly, Elijah had bid on an antique necklace from the 1800s that had caught my eye, I tried to tell him that spending fifteen thousand dollars on a necklace was absurd but he refused to listen to me and claimed that it was to build and fund an orphanage for displaced women and children in Gaza which was a good cause. I shut up after that.Judah and Aurelia took us out for a night out after the party to get some real food, Judah and Elijah discussed business while Aurelia and I talked about babies and our kids. I noticed the ease that Elijah had around Judah, it felt like he belonged there.We returned to Chicago on Sunday and picked Becca up then went home. That night I received a message from an unknown number that had me shaken.'HOW COULD YOU TRAVEL WITH HIM, PET? HE'S NOT THE ONE FOR YOU, I AM.' I could barely believe my eyes, how did he get my number? I was starting to get really scared. I wondered if I should tell Elijah but I didn'
Elijah's POV" Boss, Capo Moretti is demanding to speak with you. He wants a physical meeting with you even though I told him repeatedly that you don't do that." Kia announced as I made my rounds in the warehouse.I lifted an unconcerned brow but continued inspecting the new stock of pistols that had come in from my factory, " Why?" Kia cleared his throat, " He claims that the goods we sent to him were substandard and he wants a refund because we exploited him." I paused my inspection and crossed my arms, "He's joking right?"Kia rubbed the back of his neck, " I'm afraid he's not. I also have it in confidence that he's been going around talking to our other clients and bringing down the quality of our goods. Boss, I heard it from one of his close men directly, that he's thinking of going into the business and so he wants to discredit us so he can get our clients.I dug my hands into my pockets and let out a hearty laugh, " Oh that bastard is trying to ruin me. He sure doesn't know w
Coraline's POVI was now five months pregnant and my belly was starting to show a bit but I opted for bigger t-shirts and dresses that hid my belly better. Elijah had stopped by to grab a cup of coffee and some snacks. He craftily planned his visit to coincide with my lunch break and I was just finishing up before coming to sit with me. This was a slow period at the cafe as Elijah and two other people were the only customers we had. Breakfast and lunch rush hours had ended and it was getting closer to evening so few people came to the cafe.I received a message from my stalker, just as I was walking to meet Elijah. I knew I should have ignored the message but I was too inquisitive and curious. I had a cream puff in my mouth and was chewing it slowly, savoring the taste when the message came. I opened the message and immediately felt repulsed.'FUCK, I LOVE THE WAY YOU EAT THAT CREAM PUFF, PET. HOW I WISH I WAS THE ONE FILLING YOU WITH CREAM, PET!'The cream puff tasted like charcoal
Coraline's POVI had my head bent over the can, throwing up the remnants of my lunch when Becca's teacher walked out of the building. I quickly stood up and stepped away from the trash can. Her teacher gave me a concerned look."Ms Coraline, are you alright?" Becca's teacher asked as she needed Becca towards the car.I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and took in a deep breath, "Yes, I'm fine. It's just my lunch isn't settling properly. I just need to take some antacids."She gave me a skeptical look, " Okay, I hope you feel better tomorrow. Bye, Becca." Becca waved at her teacher."Thank you for your concern," I said and took Becca to the car. I remembered that I had left the box open. "Baby just hold on a minute, Mommy's going to clear the backseat so you can have it all to yourself, okay?" She nodded her head and waited for me. I grabbed the napkin and covered the box. I took the box to the passenger side and placed it on the seat.I got into the driver's seat and drove off
Elijah's POVI wanted to break something, not just break, I wanted to hurt someone so much that they would beg me to stop. After dropping Coraline off at work, we had agreed that it would be better that until her stalker was caught, I would drop her off in the mornings and pick her up after work, I drove straight to the warehouse. I needed to let out my anger on any piece of scum possible.I arrived at the warehouse and went down to the dungeon, I walked it on Kia and another of my enforcers having a time at a debtor. Usually, I didn't mess with Kia's time as he usually handled low-grade scum but right now, I needed to beat the crap out of someone.I entered the cell and Kia and my men noticed me and stopped what they were doing."Who is he and what did he do?" I asked, eyeing the bloodied man on the floor, he had curled up in a ball and was coughing out blood. I scrunched up my nose in disgust. He wasn't badly bruised so Kia must just be starting with him. Great, I get to be the one
Coraline's POVJeremy and I got Mei into his car and drove her to the hospital. I called Tyler on our way there and he promised he would be at the hospital soon. We got to the hospital, Mei was put in a wheelchair and wheeled into the delivery room, while I paced outside, calling Mei's parents and siblings.Tyler arrived with Elijah and he went into the delivery room while Elijah stayed with me."Are you alright?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me in to rest my head on his chest."I'm fine, I'm just worried about Mei. Labor and delivery is not a joke, it's going to take a lot from her and I'm just praying that there are no complications." I felt so much at peace with his arms around me. It felt like a safe haven."She'll be fine, don't worry about her. She has the best doctors with her. Everything is going to be alright." He led me to the bench outside the delivery room and we sat down, I was still cradling in his arms."Hey, I've got your ice cocoa…" Jere
1 year laterCoraline's POVIt was a balloon mayhem in the Warren mansion. Today was the twins' one-year birthday and it was already off to a disaster. I didn't know who had come up with the genius idea to blow up ten giant balloons and tie the hand of my son, Judah, to it. Now I had a semi-heart attack when I saw him floating in the backyard. Okay, he wasn't actually floating but his legs were no longer steady on the ground. Warren and his ridiculous friends, one whom my son had been named after had been in charge of getting the balloons ready but it seemed that had something else in mind. Something life-threatening and death-worthy, they just laughed and took pictures of him floating. They were having way too much fun with the helium pump and I was not having it."Elijah, bring my son down this instant. Get those ridiculous balloons off him before I get there." I shouted from the backdoor, immediately they swooped into action, Elijah grabbing Judah while the other guys found the sci
Elijah's POVJudah, Kia, and I were in one car, three of my men were in another car behind us, and Tyler and Gavin had stayed back. Gavin was still tracking Coraline's location, he was on the phone so he could tell us immediately if the location changed.Kia pulled up in front of a shabby bungalow on the outskirts of town, if Judah and Gavin hadn't shown up, I would never have been able to trace Coraline to this place.We got out of the car and approached the front door, every man had brought out their guns and we were ready to shout at anyone who wasn't Coraline. That had been my order, shout first, ask questions later.I tried to open the door but it was locked, I moved back a bit and then opened the door with a resounding right kick, breaking the lock.I rushed into the house, Judah and Kia following closely behind me, the living room was deserted, and I spotted Coraline's black purse on the crummy sofa which was a good sign that she was here. "There's no one in the kitchen," Juda
Elijah's POVIt had been six hours since Mrs Smith informed me about Coraline's disappearance, I had my men out searching everywhere for Jeremy. I was reviewing all the places he usually frequented when I had my men watch him and he wasn't at any of them. It took Kia who was my hacker about an hour to track Coraline's phone. It had been tossed on the road, a few blocks away from the cemetery. I had moved Mrs Smith and Becca back to my grandfather's house, I wanted Becca somewhere I could keep my eyes on her. I had a feeling Jeremy was going to come after her and Coraline would never forgive me if Jeremy could get Becca and I would never be able to forgive myself. Right now I was lost, I had no leads on where Coraline was, I had exhausted all the clues I had and they all led to dead ends.Kia and my men were in the kitchen that was now our makeshift conference room. Tyler was here as well and had no idea who Kia and the other men were, he just assumed they were my security. My grandfa
Elijah's POV"Well, you royally fucked up," Judah said from the other side of the call. I sighed and ran my hand over my face, tell me something I already didn't know."I told you then, I reminded you constantly that getting your revenge was going to end badly. Trust me, I've been there, it never ends well for the parties involved." He continued.I kissed my teeth, "I know, dude. I never knew I was going to end up falling in love with her. Everything is so messed up, I hurt Coraline so bad that she couldn't look me in the eye." I was seated on my childhood bed in my childhood room, I looked completely out of place with the grunge band posters on the wall and the large poster of Metallica covering almost half of the wall. God, judging from the kind of music I used to listen to, I must have been such a difficult and troubled teen. How did my grandfather and Mrs Smith survive living with me?I heard Judah shuffling paper from his side of the call. It was already evening here but it was s
Coraline's POVI cried myself to sleep that night. Mrs Smith came over, she said Elijah had asked her to come and stay with us as I would need help with Becca. According to her, Elijah had shown up at his grandfather's house with a suitcase in her, looking like a puppy that had been kicked repeatedly.Janet made sure to emphasize that Elijah was sad, regretful, and wallowing in shame. I acted like I was hard of hearing and couldn't hear a word she was saying. Janet completely took over the operations of the house, she let me get the alone time that I needed and took care of Becca. She brought me food and although I had no appetite, I knew I would be punishing my babies by not eating so I forced myself to eat. Elijah called but I had handed over my phone to Janet so only she and Becca spoke to him. For two days, I was a complete shadow of myself, I barely got out of bed except to eat and pee, I realized that I was gradually falling into a depressive state and I hated Elijah for doin
Coraline's POVI raised my hand, I was not in the mood to hear his excuses because I knew Elijah, he was a sweet talker, he would always have something to say. "Stop. Stop it please, it's exactly what it looks like. I'm not stupid, neither am I blind. I can't believe I ever trust you. I can't believe I actually thought I was falling in love with you. What a big joke. Did your grandfather really say he was going to cut you out of his will or was that just a lie to get me involved with you? You know what, I don't care. I'm done." I snatched my phone from his hand, turned, and rushed out of his room as fast as I could. I entered Becca's room and slammed the door, I hurried to her wardrobe, got out a suitcase, and began to fill it with clothes, toys, and everything Becca would need for some days. I grabbed a backpack and put in some extra things. I wore the backpack and began to roll the suitcase out of the room. Elijah was waiting outside, his eyes widened when he saw the bag in my han
Coraline's POVI hadn't heard anything from my stalker in about two months and I was starting to think he had forgotten about me and had moved on. Jeremy had been away for over a month now and we were holding a welcome back party for him. He had gone back home to stay with his mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily it was quickly detected, she had gotten surgery and was now better. So both of our pastry chefs were out, Mei had to call in a favor from one of her culinary friends and they came with a staff and helped out for the month.I was now eight months pregnant and Elijah had officially banned me from working behind the counter as the barista so my new role was being the manager. Elijah preferred if I didn't work at all but I refused, I couldn't just leave the cafe when Mei was absent and Jeremy as well, it would have been too hard on Louise to keep the cafe running. We had hired no hands to help out in the cafe and increased our coffee stations as the cafe was
Elijah's POVFriday rolled by and we were currently seated in the courtroom listening to the lawyers use legal jargon as they went back and forth with each other. Coraline was shivering next to me but I held her hand tight and drew circles on her lap to calm her down. I had my gaze fixed on Reginald who was clad in a black robe looking regal and supreme but I knew better. He made eye contact a few times and I made to smile at him, acknowledging him. He always looked away quickly and stared at the papers on his desk.I tuned out the happenings in the court at some points as I had no idea what they were talking about and also since I knew there was no way we were going to lose. I came back to reality when Coraline began to shake my shoulders, crying. My heart sank, my first thought was Reginald had pulled a fast one on me, my second thought was to get my assistant to send out the videos of Reginald's son, and my third thought was to call Kia and get him to dispose of good old Reggie.Co
Elijah's POV"I got the information that you wanted," Tyler announced as he entered my office, he waved the file in his hand. He got to the desk and dropped in front of me."Thanks." I collected the file, opened it, and flipped through it."Why do you need it? What are you going to do with the information of the judge in charge of Coraline's case?" He sat down and crossed his legs.I lifted a shoulder and dropped it, "Nothing much, I want to run a background check on him and see if he's reliable. For what it's worth, Blossom could have bribed him to rule in their favor. "Tyler frowned, " I highly doubt that, Judge Reginald is an upright man from what I've heard. I don't believe he can be easily bribed."I snickered, oh how naive Tyler was. I picked up my phone and shot a text to Kia to investigate Judge Reginald, I needed a full background check on him and his family, I wanted eyes and ears on them every minute of the day. I also wanted to know if he had met with Blossom recently. Ki