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chapter 4

Penulis: Uriel Kings
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-02-10 10:00:51

Gwyneth

Two years later

“Dad!”

I run down the stairs and toward the front door, my sneakers slapping on the marble with each step.

At the sound of my voice, he stops and turns to me with a questioning gaze and a smile.

There’s always a smile on Dad’s face whenever he looks at me. Even when he’s mad at me, he soon forgets it all and smiles.

Our housekeeper, Martha, says I’m the only one who makes him smile from his heart. So I’m kind of proud of having the superpower of making the “savage devil,” as the media dubs him, smile only at me.

But the media is a bunch of assholes, because they forget that he’s been such a devout single parent ever since he was young.

My dad hasn’t aged much. At thirty-seven going on thirty-eight, he still has a strong build that fills out his suit. He’s tall and broad and has an eight-pack. No kidding. He’s the healthiest man I know. But he also has a few age lines that make him the wisest ever—aside from a certain someone.

Also, the look in his blue-gray eyes, the same eyes that now look at me with love, can kill. I can tell why many people find him intimidating and absolutely brutal. When someone has his fortune, looks, and personality, people either bow or stay away.

But once again, I have the superpower of being his only flesh and blood.

“You forgot your phone.” I wave it in front of him and take a slurp of my vanilla milkshake—which is my version of a morning coffee.

Dad sighs as he takes the phone. He’s not the type who forgets,ever—his memory is like an elephant’s, but it feels as if he’s been preoccupied more than usual lately.

Maybe it’s an important case. Or his unending legal battles with my step-grandmother, Susan. I swear, neither of them will let go and it’ll just go on forever in court until one of them dies.

After he tucks the phone in his pocket, he pinches my cheek. “What would I do without you, my little angel?”

I pull back. “Hey! I’m not little anymore. We celebrated my twentieth birthday a month ago.”

“You’ll always be little to me. Besides, a vanilla milkshake is still your favorite drink, which proves my theory.”

“It’s my happy drink.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’ve really grown up. See how tall I am?”

“How tall or old you are doesn’t matter. You’ll always be little to me.”

“Even when I’m old and wrinkly and taking care of you?”

“Even then. Deal with it.”

“You’re hopeless, Dad.”

“Gwyneth Catherine Shaw, who are you calling hopeless?”

I fix his crooked tie and feign sadness. “A certain Kingsley who’s getting old yet refuses to settle down with someone.”

“I have my little angel and, therefore, I need no one else.”

“I’ll leave one day, Dad.”

“Not if I have a say in it.”

“Are you going to keep me single forever?”

“Hmm.” He stares at me thoughtfully, as if he’s trying to figure out the ending to humanity’s misery. “Hypothetically, no, because I want grandchildren—eventually. But I don’t like the journey that leads to that outcome.”

“There could always be a surprise pregnancy.”

Dad stiffens and I internally curse myself for not keeping my mouth shut. This, of all subjects, isn’t something he’s a fan of—because of my mother, I guess.

He hid it from me until I was eight. Up until that time, he used to tell me that she’d died, but then I overheard him talking to Nate and that’s when he told me the sad reality.

Ever since then, we made a pact to never lie to each other.

“Are you pregnant?” His voice loses all humor.

“What? No, of course not, Dad.”

He grabs my shoulders and leans down so his eyes are level with mine. “Gwen, if you are, just tell me.”

“No…”

“Is it that kid with the bike? I’m going to fucking murder him.”

“It’s not Chris. I was just kidding. I’m sorry.”

“Are you sure? Because that motherfucker is going to have a surprise visit from me and his Grim Reaper.”

“Don’t, Dad. I’m really not pregnant. I promise.”

He releases a breath, then staggers backward as if he’s been punched.

What I just said must have reminded him of how I ended up at his door. My mystery mother—who’s a taboo subject around here—abandoned me in front of Grandpa’s house when Dad was still in high school with a measly note that read “She’s yours, Kingsley. Do whatever you want with her.”

And that’s how I came to life. Abandoned. Discarded.

She didn’t even tell him to take care of me. Just “whatever he wanted.”

“Don’t joke about things like that, Gwen,” Dad tells me in his no-nonsense voice.

“I know. I didn’t mean to.” I grin up at him in an attempt to change the mood. “Aren’t you forgetting something else?”

He places his briefcase on the floor and opens his arms. “Come here.”

I dive in, wrapping my arms around him. “I love you, Dad.”

“Love you, too, Angel. You’re the best gift I’ve ever received.”

Moisture gathers in my lids and it takes everything in me not to be all emotional and tell him stupid things like how it hurts that I’m not Mom’s gift, too. That she considered me trash to be discarded. That she’s a coward who abandoned both of us.

Because, in a way, I’ve always had a hunch that he was waiting for her. Twenty years later and he must be exhausted. He must be at his limit.

Maybe I’m at my limit, too. Despite all Dad’s love, I’ve always felt that a piece of me was missing, lost somewhere I can never reach.

That could be the reason I grew up to be a hollow person with barely anything at my core. Someone sweet on the outside, but completely and utterly empty on the inside.

Someone with a dysfunctional brain.

Someone who needs lists and coping mechanisms to stay afloat.

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  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 5

    “Did you change your shampoo, Gwen? It’s still vanilla, but is it a different brand?”I roll my eyes as I pull back. He has a super sensitive nose, like he can smell when I’ve had a drink behind his back, even after I brush my teeth and consume copious amounts of mouthwash.“I mixed two brands together. Seriously, Dad, you have a weird sense of smell.”“It’s for when my angel decides to drink when she’s not supposed to.”I make a face and Dad ruffles my hair, sending the auburn strands flying.“Not the hair!” I jerk away and smooth the stubborn thing down.“You still look beautiful.”“You’re only saying that because you’re my father.”“You got my genes, Angel, and that’s not something trivial. Anyone would find you beautiful.”Not Nate.A jolt rushes through me for just thinking his name. It takes all my resolve to say goodbye to Dad without turning a furious shade of red.After he leaves, I sit on the steps, place my milkshake beside me, and grab my bracelet. The one he gave me for m

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-10
  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 6

    KingsleyI use the voice command to call Nate.The sound of ringing fills the car, but there’s no answer.“Fuck.” I hit one of my fists against the steering wheel as I take a sharp turn to the right.I zigzag between cars, ignoring their honking and the occasional name-calling.Right now, I’m on a mission.One that will only be fulfilled once I’m at the firm and talking to that low-fucking-life.When I first saw the document this morning, I thought something was wrong. Surely, the name and the fucking proof that lay in front of me were some sort of a mistake.A miscalculation.A Coincidence.A fucking anomaly in the system.But it wasn’t.And neither were the facts that I learned from the private investigator. Neither were the records that I had to stoop low and call in favors to acquire.The truth was sitting squarely in front of me all this time, hiding in plain fucking sight and I was too blind to see it.Was it arrogance?Ignorance?After all, I’ve grown so fast in so little time.

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-10
  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 7

    GwynethThe glass of water slips from my hand and hits the sink with a loudcrash, splintering all over the surface.The sound collides with the climax of Car Radioby Twenty One Pilots that’s playing from Alexa.I wince while I carefully grab the tiny pieces and throw them in the trash and simultaneously scroll through my phone.Aside from the memes and mindless conversations in my group chat with my college friends, there’s nothing of importance. Though calling them friends is an exaggeration. Colleagues would be more appropriate.Chris, Jenny, Alex and I all take pre-law at the same college, so we kind of flocked toward each other. It’s hard for me to consider anyone an actual friend, because most of the people I’ve met since I was in elementary school were either interested in my super successful father or our family drama, namely the drama between Dad and my step-grandma. It got worse in pre-law since everyone is gunning to snatch an internship at Weaver & Shaw.The screening proce

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-25
  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 8

    Anyway, Chris and I still haven’t gone all the way and I don’t want to. I feel like if I do, I’ll be letting myself down or something. Not that he’s been pressuring me or anything, but he can’t be patient forever, no matter how much he enjoys the make-out and groping sessions.It isn’t right to lead him on, though, which is why I need to make a decision. Either end this or go all the way in.The main reason I said yes to Chris in the first place, aside from his negotiating skills, is because I needed to move on.I needed to find someone else to fill up the emptiness.There’s one tiny problem, though. I hadn’t thought that the previous occupier of that spot, Nate, would refuse to leave his place for someone else.But I’ve been pushing him out gradually. Soon, I’ll get completely rid of him and maybe someone who actually likes me, like Chris, will fill it.So I type with shaky hands.Me:Sure!Chris:Can I come to your house or will your father rearrange my features?I smile, remembering

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-25
  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 9

    NathanielA coma.The doctor is telling us that Kingsley is in a vegetative state. He’s saying things about swelling in the brain due to the impact and that he might wake up in the next few days, weeks, or never.This hotshot surgeon spent hours working on my friend with his people, and yet he still couldn’t bring him back.He was in the operating room for hours, just to tell us that King might or might not wake up. I don’t miss the fake sympathy or his attempts not to give hope.But even if I grab and shake him, then punch him in the face, it won’t bring King back, and it sure as fuck won’t serve any purpose. Except for maybe getting rid of some of my pent-up frustration.Gwyneth listens to the doctor’s words with her lips slightly parted. They’re lifeless and pale, like the rest of her face. She clinks the nails of her thumbs and forefingers together in a frantic, almost manic type of way. It’s a nervous habit she’s had since she was a kid—since she learned the truth about her mothe

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-25
  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 10

    “It’s not true. Tell me it’s not true, Nate.”I should reprimand her for not calling me Uncle like I usually do, but this is neither the time nor the place.“Denial won’t help you. The sooner you accept reality, the faster you can deal with it.”“No.” She grits her teeth, then lets out another haunted, “No…”“Let go, Gwyneth.” I try to soften my tone, as much as I’m able to, but it still comes out firm. Like an order.She shakes her head again, but it’s meek, weak, just like she is beneath my touch. Until now, I’ve never noticed how small she actually is compared to me.How fragile.Actually, I did once. When she was pressed up against me with her lips on mine.But I shouldn’t be thinking about that. I shouldn’t be thinking about how small my best friend’s daughter is or how she feels in my hold when we’re in front of his hospital room.A muscle clenches in my jaw and I loosen my hold on her shoulders, starting to step away from her.I’m unprepared for what she does, though.Completel

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-25
  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 11

    NathanielGwyneth falls asleep.After so much struggle and standing for hours in front of Kingsley’s room, she lost the physical battle and slumped over on one of the chairs in the waiting area.I told her that she could go home, but she vehemently shook her head, pulled her knees to her chest, and closed her eyes.Which is why she’s about to fall forward.I place a finger on her forehead and push her back so she doesn’t hit the ground. It’s light contact, only a damn finger, and yet it feels as if my skin has caught fire and the flames are now extending to the rest of my body.In hindsight, I shouldn’t have let her hug me. Or I should’ve pushed her away sooner. Because now, even a mere touch brings back memories of her body pressed up against my chest.Her slender body that I can’t stop thinking about how small it is compared to mine.I clench my fist and close my eyes to chase away the haze. It doesn’t work. Because even though she’s out of view, her scent clings to me as stubbornly

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-27
  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    chapter 12

    “We’ll represent Gwyneth and keep things as they are.”“Even if you personally take the case, there’s no way Susan will come out of this empty-handed. Gwyneth can’t touch her inheritance or trust fund until she’s twenty-one. That’s a whole year for Susan to demand the house and shares of the firm. She’ll have a leg to stand on, too, since Kingsley made his father’s will null and void. Because he used his father’s money for Weaver & Shaw’s capital, she can sue for her husband’s shares that Kingsley inherited. Not to mention that she’ll be up against a girl who can’t touch her money yet. And before you suggest it, yes, we can stall in court, but considering all of Susan and Kingsley’s legal battles in the past, I say Gwyneth doesn’t stand a chance. She doesn’t have her father’s legal experience, revenge spirit, or ruthlessness. She’ll be eaten alive by Susan.”I want to disagree, but I can’t. Aspen is right. Kingsley’s lawsuits against Susan were fueled by pure spite. He hated her and w

    Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-27

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  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 36

    Joe glanced at me, sensing for the first time that this news might not be as benign as he thought. “Um, yesterday?” He scratched his nose and eyed me, checking to see how that information went over. When my face darkened, he added, “Maybe. I don’t remember.”“Well I just talked to Maureen about it yesterday morning, so either it was yesterday or it was really early this morning,” I said evenly.“Yeah, it was probably yesterday.” Joe pulled an apologetic face. As if he were the one with something to apologize for. Then he wrapped up his uneaten egg sandwich and made a quick exit.I stayed in the break room for another few minutes, trying to get a handle on my anger. My tendency was to go with the emotion–let it swell and break and deal with the cause of it. I didn’t like to let things fester. This time, though, I really did try to tame it. I asked myself if I was being unreasonable–maybe this wasn’t actually Aiden treating me like a child. Maybe there was some way in which he could ask

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 35

    LAYLAI sensed Aiden’s mood even before I saw his face. It was the way he moved when he came out onto the balcony. A stiffness in the set of his shoulders that was echoed in his face when he turned around. He lowered himself into the chair beside mine without kissing me first.I closed my book, keeping my finger between the pages to save my spot. I had a pretty good idea what this was about.Aiden didn’t waste time getting to the point. “You went around me.”“I went up the chain of command,” I countered. “I report to Maureen.”“I don’t give a damn who you report to at work. You went aroundme.” He bit off the words. “Not as your boss, but as your–whatever the fuck we’re doing is called.”“I think that about describes it,” I drawled, hoping to tempt him out of this fight. I dogeared the corner of my page and set it down beside my chair.Aiden wasn’t tempted though. Or amused. If anything, his face grew stormier. “If that’s all it was, I wouldn’t bother.”I stood up and slid into his lap

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 34

    I swallowed uneasily, well aware I’d just made things worse. When this all came out–and it would all come out–Jack was going to remember that he’d sent me to New York City to protecthis daughter, when all along, I was the asshole he should have been worried about. But I’d painted myself into this corner, and when I did something, I did it well. There was no way out. “Then I’ll go, Jack.” I did my best to make my voice sound relaxed rather than placating. “No problem.”Finally, some of the tension eased out of his jaw. He picked up his beer again and took a long drink. When he set it back down, he looked like my old buddy Jack again. “Not like you have anything better to do, right?” he asked, half-joking, half-prying.“Nah, nothing better,” I agreed.“You don’t sound too worried about it.”“I got divorced for a reason, Jack.” I stretched my arms over my head and did my best to put off the impression of what I had been just a few months before–happily single, enjoying my bachelorhood. I

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 33

    AIDENIwas late meeting Jack because Blake Morten had invited Layla to a charity ball being held by a wealthy fan in order to raise money for his foundation. He wasn’t inviting her as his date, he swore. He knew she was new and this would be a good chance to see more of his brand. Or so he said.“His brand is YouTube,” I said when Maureen–not Layla–mentioned it on our way to get our second cup of coffee on Monday afternoon. “She can see all of his brand that she wants without leaving her house.” My heart was pounding an ugly rhythm. Electricity had shot into the palms of my hands, and I’d curled my free hand into a fist instinctively. Then I shoved it in my pocket because Blake Morten wasn’t here to punch.“ItwasYouTube. Then he hired us to expand on it,” Maureen reminded me. She seemed distracted.I shot her a sideways look. I didn’t expect Maureen to feel the same defensive rage at the idea of our client trying to move in on one of our team members as I did. She wasn’t secretly slee

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 2

    LAYLAI got away with wearing Aiden’s t-shirt with my jeans and blazer that first day. After that, we were more careful. I went to my place first to get a change of clothes, and then after a couple weeks, I began keeping things at his place. We were careful in other ways, too. Careful not to be alone together at the office, careful not to let our gazes clash for too long. It was easy enough during the workday—it was the happy hours, working dinners, and the last baseball game of the season that made things tricky. Inhibitions lowered. Stolen glances lingered for too long. More than once, we found ourselves sneaking off to find a place to be alone.Still, we got away with it. Liv and Bran were the only other two souls in the world that knew about us, and even Aiden didn’t know about that. I wanted to tell him, but he had been so adamant that we had to keep this a secret just between the two of us that I didn’t know how to tell him it wasn’t. I’d never been a particularly secretive pers

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 31

    AIDENI didn’t sleep that night. I had Layla curled up against me, her body warm and her breathing even as a metronome. The moonlight was streaming through my curtainless windows, and I caught the down notes of the band playing at the bar across the street. How many nights had I spent sleepless, staring at the ceiling, listening to that bar’s live music? More than I could count. I’d never needed much sleep, and since the company got so busy, I needed even less.I was tired now though. Bone deep weariness that came from being in an impossible situation. I’d crossed the line with Layla, but there was no way in hell I was going to cross back. It had been hard enough to resist her when I didn’t know what it would be like between us. Now I knew, and nothing was going to keep me from her.Not even Jack.The exhaustion moved into my bones. I’d have to tell him eventually. If this had been a one-time thing, maybe we could have gotten away with it, but it wasn’t going to be that.I turned my h

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 30

    “Because I can’t have you.”I set my beer on his barren dresser and put my hands on his shoulders. I’d barely had half of it, but I didn’t need liquid courage. Not for this. “I think you can.”Aiden’s eyes were hot, but he didn’t make a move to touch me, even as I felt his muscles tense. His voice was low and scratchy when he said, “I can’t keep you.”There it was again. That conviction that nothing could last. That nothing was really his. I slid my hands up to his face and pulled it gently down. Our foreheads brushed, and his eyes were glittering with need, but he still didn’t move. I wanted to kiss him so badly that my lips were tingling, but I had brought us this far. He had to meet me halfway.“You can keep me tonight,” I whispered.I saw the last of his resistance collapse, and his lips came down on mine. Triumph swelled in my chest, then was brushed away by overwhelming lust.I kissed him back fiercely, pulling his face down to mine and wrapping my arms around his neck. I could

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 28

    “Looking at each other?”His mouth hitched up in one corner. “I don’t want to just look at you, Layla.”My heart hammered in my ears. My blood hummed, every sense attune to him. “I don’t want to just look at you, Aiden.”He took a deep breath and I sensed the final battle was raging in his head. I held mine, waiting for the outcome. “Come over to my place,” he said, the words tearing out of his throat. “We can talk more.”I sensed that if I told him I didn’t want to talk, it might be pushing him too far. He might revert. So I nodded as though it were plausible that we might just talk.But I knew better.* * *I’d never been to Aiden’s old place, but I knew instantly that the two-bedroom condo on the twelfth floor of a nice high rise only a couple miles from work was new since the divorce. The packing boxes still stacked against a wall and the dearth of furniture was a dead giveaway. In the living room, he had exactly one place to sit, and that was a long, three-cushioned couch. There

  • In Bed With Daddy’s Best Friend    Book 4: chapter 28

    “No, I’ve got it.” I took them from him. “I forgot something at my desk anyway.”“Do you want us to wait for you?”I hesitated. I couldn’t say yes because my plan was to dump these empty boxes in the break room trash can and then confront Aiden. But did it look suspicious if I said no? Would they suspect? “No, I might hang out for a minute. My roommate is coming to meet me for a drink at a bar nearby,” I lied.They accepted it without a flicker of skepticism. “A drink sounds good,” I heard Joe suggest to Gloria as they walked down the hallway toward the elevator with William.“I’m tired.”I felt a moment’s pity for Joe, then my heart kicked into overtime. I was about to be alone in the office with Aiden, which was something I’d tried to engineer before, but these weren’t ideal circumstances. I couldn’t focus on seducing him–I had to confront him over this Blake Morten situation first.As I walked through the office with the pizza boxes in hand, I heard him talking in his office. At fi

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