DAYDREAMKENYA POVThe following day came, and my stewing hatred continued simmering in my chest. My thoughts raced over a couple of things and how I would just unalive Royal without having to serve lifetime imprisonment. I just hated that every last one of the options ended with me in an orange suit. And as much as I looked pretty in some clothes - most of the clothes- the suit wasn’t one of those. Royal disrespected me in ways I never thought were possible, and I found myself awake at night wondering just what the hell went wrong with him. He was the opposite of that sweet man I met in college. That amazing soul who was full of this bright light that just livened up the room whenever he walked in. That one person who loved life and had a brimming will to dream and live.You’d think the same flame that used to flick in his eyes would be a roaring fire with all the success he had, and more still coming. But then no… he was a hateful bastard full of bitterness and delusions. Seriousl
DAYDREAM IIKENYA POVI drifted off to sleep and I don’t know when. But when I woke up, my phone was vibrating like crazy beneath my pillow. With a deep groan, I pulled it and mindlessly pressed accept, then slapped it onto my ear.“Kenya speaking,” I called out in a husky voice, my eyes drifting closed. “KENYA BROWN… whatever it is you’re doing you’re doing with the director, try doing it ten times more. You can’t believe what I’m seeing. Over one thousand orders of Forsaken copies? Have you checked your Amazon…” Celine prattled a mile an hour into my ear, and my still drowsy brain failed to grasp the meaning of her words. “What are you talking about?” I croaked into the phone, pulling myself up into a sitting position. My eyes landed on the clock on my nightstand and I almost burst out crying when I saw the time. Four in the morning and I was woken up for what? “Are you kidding me? Have you not checked your writer accounts? You’ve gained over fifty thousand followers just this y
CAT FIGHTKENYA POVCome eight and I was changed into a pair of palazzo pants, flat sandals, and an army green tank top tugged inside the pants. I had my groovy hair pulled and gelled on the top of my head in a bun, and black sunglasses hanging on my forehead, a lousy attempt to be incognito. It was nothing fancy and worth the Bentley, but I felt good. And I had this permanent smile on my face that refused to die down, no matter how bad I wanted it to!The time hit, and the car honked outside right on the clock. I was already alone, with Anna gone to work and Little Luc dropped at his school and off to work. She gushed about my life and how it was starting to be a dream for all the women in America, and that I should live it all up while it lasted. I tried apologizing for burdening her with all the caretaking work, but she flipped me off and told me I needed a break and just be. And I was even more gratified to have her in my life than ever before. She was doing more than she signed
Eye OpenerChapter 33: Eye Opener ROYAL POV I could barely hear or witness anything that happened over the pulse pounding in my ears the entire time. I don’t know what I feared the most between the idea of Kenya witnessing Luke and his cabal of snakes shredding me to pieces and demanding half of the money I managed to work for, or the simple fact that Luke found my weakness and was using it against me. I have no idea how he found out about Kenya, or how he even learned that she was one thing I valued more than money; yet here he was, making sure I rued the day I fucked that fake-assed bambolina he used to call a fiancee. But it was clear I underestimated him and his resources. During the entire hearing, I could barely focus on what was said, and my mind kept drifting to the entity sitting at the back of the courtroom. When our gazes collided, she’d looked confused, shocked to see me there; but something else had landed in her gaze. Realization. The acceptance that what I’d sai
Devil is a woman ROYAL POV The sun peeking through the grey curtains was what woke me the following morning. I was groggy, my head pounding from a merciless headache and my chest tight from all the hatred I kept inside. The last conversation with my lawyers came tumbling to the front of my mind; the conversation where I asked them to transfer bloody twenty-five million dollars to The Trods and cut ties with them. I tried to breathe through my nose and find positivity from everything, and when my mind raced over darkness involving blood and hellfire, I ripped from the bed. I jumped into the shower and flexed my achy muscles beneath the hot water, then exited feeling slightly better. I put on a pair of fresh sweat pants and the t-shirt, then thinned my eyes at the smell of fresh omelet and bacon resonating from the kitchen. For one, I had no maid because I preferred my privacy over everything else, and today was not a cleaning day. So whoever that was knew the schedule quite rig
Should Have Known Kenya POV Full two days passed and I decided to boycott my phone and avoid Luke like a plague of an ugly disease. His words haunted me every waking moment of the day, and I resented it when he started creeping into my dreams with a diamond ring and whatever shit he thought he was doing to my subconscious. The thoughts of him were troublesome enough during the day- especially the sex- but at night; they were plain cruel. I still didn’t know what to make of his confession, but hearing him say the words “collateral” and admitting to using me to get the upper hand at his feud with Carter… Yeah well, that made me want to punch a hole into the wall. That made me want to punch a hole into the wall. I may have been willing to get seduced and charmed by all his man-wits and play princess in his rotten fairy tale, but not after he used me to hurt Royal. That was damn low and reacting to his simple deep timbre was a blow to my ego. The man clearly wanted to deep his finger
Bad Habits ROYAL POV Awareness connected me to my front door as it closed with a soft click, and the air settled into the room with a haunting chill. My insides curled and twisted with regret and something like guilt, and I gnashed my teeth before running a hand through my hair, gripping the strands tight enough that my scalp stung just a bit. I was a dick. A fuckin' dick! Whatever just happened- even if it was cooked in the kitchens of hell to come to torment me- was not supposed to happen. There's no way in hell that was meant to happen! Heck, I knew I was never a saint who saved puppies from a burning building in my previous life, and I have done my fair share of evil in this life too, but that was literally too much. Not when I was in the process of trying to win her back. Kenya was not supposed to see me with Kimberly, especially half-naked with nothing but a pair of briefs on with clothes scattered around the living room. Not long ago I was begging her to let me in h
Luke POV I stood in the living room of my condo overlooking the Nashville skyline, with Smokey whiskey sloshing painfully into my stomach. Regret was hot and thick inside of me, making me question every single thing that had happened. Things were going exactly how I wanted them to go; Carter was losing, and I was winning. It was all supposed to be a glorious feeling of triumph, knowing that I was squashing the bug beneath my foot and refusing it a chance to grow its wings. Yet a part of me was whining about the missing piece that was suddenly lacking from me. A bigger part to be exact. It was as if the whole thing was just a twisted game that hurt even the innocent, and it made bile rise and settle in my throat. The look Kenya gave me as she turned to leave, my harsh words at her and the betrayal in her voice; knocked some sense into my thick skull, and I found myself wondering if this whole revenge thing was worth it. I hated to admit it; it was starting to feel pointless… Fut